Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath will lead the Sri Lankan delegation to the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from October 14 to 15, 2026.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Herath is scheduled to deliver Sri Lanka’s national statement at the summit, which will be held under the theme “Stronger CICA: Connectivity, Digitalisation and Sustainable Growth in Asia.”

During his visit, the Foreign Minister is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts from several member countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

He will also meet leaders of the host country, Azerbaijan, and the Secretary-General of CICA.

The summit is expected to bring together Heads of State, Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers from CICA’s 28 member states, representing South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The Foreign Ministry stated that Sri Lanka’s participation provides an opportunity to strengthen engagement with countries across Asia, particularly by exploring new economic partnerships with the rapidly growing economies of Central Asia.

CICA is regarded as Asia’s largest regional intergovernmental forum dedicated to enhancing cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability across the region. (Newswire)

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The Ceylon Indoor Cricket Association (CICA) has announced it will host the Indoor Cricket World Cup 2025, the 12th world cup tournament.

The World Indoor Cricket Federation (WICF) awarded the hosting rights after the CICA had conducted a very successful World Masters’ Series 5 months ago.  

The Indoor Cricket World Cup 2025 will be worked off under the following 4 categories: 

1. Men’s Open 
2. Women’s Open 
3. 22& under Boys
4. 22 & under girls

According to CICA, teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, England, UAE, Singapore, USA and hosts Sri Lanka will be seen in action. 

The tournament will be held from the 27th of September to the 05th of October 2025, with the games conducted at the Austasia Sports Complex and the newly built U Pro Arena, in Thalawathugoda. 

Approximately 1000 players, officials & supporters are expected in the country for this prestigious event, with appreciable media coverage made possible in all major nations involved. Apart from being a major sporting event, it will also serve as a popular sports tourism opportunity for the host country at a time the tourism sector in the island nation is witnessing an upward trend in arrivals. 

Over the last year, there has been much activity relating to International Indoor Cricket in Sri Lanka. The England Asia Cup was followed by the Masters World Series, with the upgraded U Pro, Colombo & Austasia, Thalawathugoda facility producing exciting action on a daily basis. 

The inaugural edition of the World Cup was held in 1995, in Birmingham, England, with Bristol also hosting one in that country. Australia has witnessed 03 events in Melbourne & Brisbane, with the former being the venue for the last event in 2022. 

Wellington was the host city when the Indoor Cricket World Cup was held twice in New Zealand. Johannesburg & Gauteng were the cities involved when South Africa acted as the host country on two occasions.

Dubai was also a venue once. Colombo is the host city for the 02nd occasion after a lapse of 21 years, bringing Sri Lanka into the limelight of Indoor Cricket World Cup action this year. 

Australia has won all the world titles in both divisions up to now. In the Men’s category, New Zealand have been runners up on 08 instances, South Africa twice & Sri Lanka once. In the Women’s category, South Africa has been the runner-up 07 times while New Zealand has done so 03 times. (Newswire)

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